Five hundred, hurray~!
Wish me luck so I can finish it...
Also, Fourth Prince's chapters coming next week.
...
The next morning, Bloed, Liu Ying, Regina, and the rest of the group were in the training room of the tower.
They were testing Liu Ying's abilities after her surprising breakthrough the previous day.
Liu Ying used the tools in the training room to test her mana, her strength, her explosive speed, and her endurance.
As result, the group saw that Liu Ying's abilities received an all-around upgrade.
Her control over mana had become smoother, her physical capabilities had gone up one level, and her aspect could release greater strength than before.
Even her mastery over [Silent Touch] had increased by a bit.
Now that she had advanced to A-Rank, Liu Ying's combat ability was twice as strong as before the breakthrough.
Moreover, her strength would continue increasing during the next few days as Liu Ying familiarized herself with the changes in her body.
"Impressive." Eres could not help but mutter. "Right now, Liu Ying should be strong enough to cause me a bit of trouble."
Bloed nodded. That was big praise coming from Eres.
You must understand that Eres was the greatest genius that Bloed had ever seen. Even though she was a middle-stage A-Rank practitioner, if she went all out, her strength could rival demigods.
If someone like her says that Liu Ying will cause her trouble if they fight, it meant a lot.
"But Liu Ying sure is lucky. I can't believe that she broke through while sleeping." Little Gina spoke with a tone of envy. She and the other girls had heard from Bloed about how Liu Ying broke through, making them speechless.
Of course, Bloed did not tell them that her breakthrough was after having sex with him, otherwise, he could imagine little Gina (And perhaps Princess Elwha) attacking him at night with the excuse of wanting to breakthrough.
When Liu Ying finished testing her improvement after the breakthrough, she walked towards Bloed and the others.
"How is it?" Bloed asked.
"Great. I feel a lot stronger than before." Liu Ying grinned with an excited expression. "Perhaps, I can defeat you if we fight now, Bloed."
Bloed rolled his eyes. "Don't get cocky."
"Should we try? Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
"Yeah yeah, later perhaps. Before that, you should give Liu Liu and your gloves to me."
"Huh? Why?"
"I need to recalibrate them. Now that you are at A-Rank, you can supply them more energy, so after some adjustments, they will become stronger."
Liu Liu was Liu Ying's metallic pet, a hornet ferret. It was like Bloed's Tito, an armor made by him to enhance the abilities of the user.
As for her gloves, they were called [Framover] and were made by Bloed as well. They were customized to use [Silent Touch] and allowed Liu Ying to release stronger attacks with the same mana.
Bloed maintained and upgraded them regularly as his mechanical abilities and the strength of Liu Ying increased. Now that Liu Ying had become an A-Rank practitioner, it was a good time to upgrade them again.
Just at that moment, the system of the tower told Bloed that someone was looking for him.
Startled, Bloed used his mind to look through the security of the tower and saw a beautiful woman at the entrance.
"Headmistress Wave?" Bloed was surprised.
He quickly allowed her inside. The headmistress then followed a nearby robot's instructions and was led towards the training floor.
"Teacher, did anything happen?" Bloed asked when he saw the dragon headmistress's solemn expression.
"I brought some news. Let's talk."
…
Five minutes later, the group was gathered in Bloed's office. Bloed made sure that nobody could eavesdrop on their conversation before looking at the dragon headmistress.
"Okay, can you now tell us what happened?" He asked with a frown.
"Last night, men of three different churches arrived at the city."
The group was stunned. They looked at each other with grave expressions.
There was only a reason why they arrived at Academy City at this point in time.
The Heart of the Forest.
"So fast?" Princess Elwha was confused. "The news about the Heart of the Forest appeared just two days ago."
"That is how much they care about it." The expression of Headmistress Wave was complicated. "Even if they are not sure that the news is true, it's enough to make them send men to the city. And they are just the first batch. I got information that another five churches sent men to the city as well. They should arrive tonight or tomorrow.
"In fact, today I discovered a lot of people trying to spy on my movements. I had to sneak out of the library to come here."
Bloed's expression was solemn.
It seemed that they needed to bring their departure towards the Boerner Forest forward.
Taking a deep breath, Bloed looked at Regina, Liu Ying, Princess Elwha, and Eres.
"Get ready, we will depart this afternoon."
The girls were stunned.
"So soon. Is it not too hurried, my hero?" Little Gina asked in concern.
Bloed smiled wryly. "It is. However, the Heart of the Forest can't remain in the city any longer. Otherwise, if the location of the Heart is revealed, the city will turn into a pandemonium."
"Sorry about it, Bloed. I know that this trip is dangerous." Headmistress Wave sighed. "Don't worry, I will find a way to distract the churches as much as I can. That way, your trip to the Boerner Forest will be a bit easier."
"Thank you, headmistress." Bloed nodded.
Just like Headmistress Wave said, this trip to the Boerner Forest was going to be very dangerous. In the worst-case scenery, they could face gods.
But the Heart of the Forest was a crucial part of Bleod's plan. They could not afford to lose it. Bloed must make this trip.
In fact, there was an easier way to transport the Heart to the Boerner Forest.
If Regina transported the Heart by herself and used her maximum speed to travel towards the forest, she would need just a few days to go and return.
Moreover, because she doesn't use mana, the gods would have a hard time detecting her.
But there was a problem with this plan.
It meant that Regina could not protect Bloed while she was transporting the Heart.
For Regina, that was unacceptable. Nothing was more important to her than Bloed's safety.
'In the end, I have to do this trip myself, huh.' Bloed sighed inside his mind. 'I hope everything goes smoothly.'
However, Bloed knew that it was impossible.
Saintess Charise had already prophesized that this trip would be fraught with dangers.
Bloed could only hope that they were strong enough to take care of any danger they had to face.